Day 61 - Tamar River Cruise

Two degrees again this morning but the sun was shining.  By 10am we were on the "Tamar Odyssey" for a four hour cruise on the Tamar River.  A smaller boat, the Lady Launceston does shorter cruises around the harbour and the Cataract Gorge.

290415 Our catamaran for the four hour cruise, the "Tamar Odyssey"

290415 The smaller of the two cruise boats on the Tamar, the "Lady Launceston"

The cruise took us firstly into the Cataract Gorge and then 40km north to the Batman Bridge and then return.  The Tamar at around 76km is the longest navigable river in Australia.  It is fed by the North and South Esk Rivers and continues to suffer from silting problems.  There is a whole history about the old dredge which dredged the river for many years.  With the development of Bell Bay on the Tamar as the major port, the number of large ships reaching the town of Launceston now has reduced considerably.  There is a heavy lifting facility not far from Launceston and some largish ships eg vehicular ferries, come here for repairs as the costs are low compared with mainland equivalents.

290415 The entrance to Cataract Gorge from the water

290415  Looking down Cataract Gorge on our Tamar Cruise

The Tamar meanders its way along the valley.  The western side is rocky and hilly and faces north. For these reasons, hillsides for the views but more importantly, north facing for the warmth in winter, there is more intense activity there by way of housing and farming eg vineyards.  One couldn't blame the Tasmanians for that.

290415 Some of the older homes on the west side of the Tamar

290415 Tamar Vineyards

290415 Tamar Vineyard

290415 Tamar Vineyards

The river meanders in part because the valley is relatively flat.  This means that there are large areas of wetlands and the banks are, in some cases, quite muddy.  The river is widest at Swan Bay and narrowest at Batman Bridge.  The river becomes quite turbulent as it forces its way through  the relatively narrow section under the bridge.  The Batman Bridge is the only crossing of the river for its whole length.  

290415 Typical of the grassy banks in the wetlands of the Tamar

290415 The green area is a cattle property

290415 More grassy wetlands

Old boats, old buildings and new houses passed our eyes frequently.

290415 The oldest church on the Tamar with linkage back to Nobel,
 famous for the discovery of explosives

290415 A flash house on the eastern bank of the Tamar River

290415 This was the vehicular ferry used after the Tasman Bridge disaster
to ferry vehicles across the Derwent

Needless to say birdlife on the water proliferates and we were fortunate to see a sea eagle's nest with both its owners present.  

290415 Sea Eagles and their nest

We were provided with a wine tasting prior to lunch which included a Pinot Gris, a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir, all from local wineries.  We were also given a beer chaser, a Boag's Premium Lager. Lunch and the Batman Bridge saw us starting our return voyage.

290415 Lunch on the cruise

290415 Batman Bridge - a cantilever suspension bridge

We finished the day with a quick drive up the western side of the river so that we could say we circumnavigated the Tamar River on land.  We passed through several small communities eg Exeter and Deviot and ventured down to the river again, this time at Paper Beach.  There had been absolutely no wind during the day and the reflections in the river were surprisingly good.

290415 The tide was out in the afternoon. View at Paper Beach

290415 Not bad reflections across a river, symbolic of a perfect day

290415 Perfect reflections - perfect day

We came across Brady Lookout which provided us with an excellent and quite typical view of the eastern side of the river.

290415 View from Brady's Lookout on the western side of the Tamar 1 of 3

290415 View from Brady's Lookout on the western side of the Tamar 2 of 3

290415 View from Brady's Lookout on the western side of the Tamar 3 of 3

The Tamar River is full of history and it would reveal more if we had more time to devote to it. However, this was a very pleasant way to spend a sunny Wednesday.